VIENNA, Va.-Cable & Wireless Inc. has reached an agreement with MobileComm that will allow CWI to introduce CWI-branded paging service to its long-distance customers during this second quarter.
CWI focuses on business customers in the United States, offering a combined portfolio of domestic and international voice, messaging and data.
This is CWI’s first U.S. paging contract. The announcement of a cellular contract is expected soon. CWI hopes to combine all telecom offerings on one bill and intends to promote services through its direct sales, telesales and alternate distribution channels.
CWI has more than 100,000 U.S. customers. It has switched services from virtually every contiguous U.S. city, as well as private lines and managed data service between most major metropolitan areas of the country. The company also has formed a business unit to handle personal communications services.
Not only does MobileComm provide CWI with one-way paging, but MobileComm owns two PCS licenses as well, said Gabe Battista, president and chief executive officer of MobileComm. Paging operators with PCS spectrum can provide two-way paging.
MobileComm is a wholly owned subsidiary of MobileMedia Corp., the nation’s second largest paging operator with 4.2 million units in service.
Geotek group bids on Korea license
MONTVALE, N.J.-A Korean consortium that includes Geotek Communications Inc. has formed to bid for a nationwide trunked mobile radio license in Korea.
Awards may be granted this summer. The venture wants to use Geotek’s proprietary Frequency Hopping Multiple Access technology. Geotek conducted a trial of the technology in Seoul earlier this year.
Montvale, N.J.-based Geotek has launched five FHMA digital networks in the United States at 900 MHz, and is building systems in central and northern Florida and Dallas.
Also in the consortium is Seoul-based Anam Industrial Co., a semiconductor company which made a $10 million investment in Geotek last year. Another partner, Korea Mobile Telecom, is a major cellular and paging operator. Partner Hyundai Electronics Industry Co. Ltd. supplies trunked radio and cellular systems. Other members of the consortium are the Ssangyong Group, a diversified manufacturing group, and Korea Express Co., a trucking subsidiary of the Dong-Ah Group, which handles industrial construction.
Geotek said the Korean license would cover more than 45 million people.
Motorola expands network in China
HONG KONG-Motorola Inc.’s Advanced Messaging Group announced an expansion contract in Suzhou, China, for Motorola’s FLEX protocol-based infrastructure.
The city of Suzhou, east of Shanghai, is a major metropolitan area and tourist site in the Jiangsu province, Motorola said. The expansion project with Suzhou Post and Telecom Bureau adds another six M15 paging systems in Suzhou and its five counties, forming a local roaming paging network within the Suzhou region.
Suzhou PTB has an existing subscriber base exceeding 200,000. The expansion adds network capacity for another 500,000 subscribers, Motorola said.
Hughes announces Prague expansion
GERMANTOWN, M.D.-Hughes Network Systems Inc. announced it has expanded the wireless local loop system it installed in Prague, Czech Republic, for SPT Telecom a.s.
HNS said it will expand the system to accommodate more than 43,000 customers. The order adds about 38,000 lines to Central Europe’s first major digital fixed wireless system.
